The 2018 Graduate Show takes visitors on a creative journey to connect with graduating students in the final stage of their learning experience. ‘Connect’ is the concept and graphic identity for this year’s show, created by Graphic Design students Dominic Edwards and Benjamin Thornton, who were commissioned and guided by Senior Lecturer, Dr Mike Harkins.

The designers said: “Connect expresses the final point and commonality of where students have arrived, whatever their course and cross-disciplinary experience at University and where academia meets the wider world.”

There will be a major live television broadcast of the graduate show with 57 third year students collaborating with students graduating in other disciplines to present a show, rich in creative content and imagery, for three hours from 5pm. The broadcast can be viewed online, on the Big Screen in Guildhall Square and on a four-metre freestanding LED video wall at Eldon Building entrance.

TV and Broadcasting course leader Charlie Watts said: “Broadcasting via video and audio is still the most powerful means of communication that we have in the world, and the University of Portsmouth is at the forefront of this technology and the ability to transmit live TV within higher education. The TV and Broadcasting course is designed to empower students to be able to take any information, and make it suitable for television, and we remain the only course in the UK that regularly broadcasts weekly TV”.

TV and Broadcasting student Nicole Inanc said: “Going live is one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had, and it doesn’t get old. I’m going to be presenting live to camera on the night, and whilst there is always the chance things might go wrong, it’s all in the recovery and the learning to make sure we deliver quality television. I can’t wait!”

Sidnie Brennan – Finalist of the TU Womenswear Scholarship at Graduate Fashion Week – inspired by the original bohemians using complex patterncutting with detailed digital print and velvet devore.

Creative Technologies students have participated in a number of unique prototypes for external clients, across a diverse range of industries from games projects including HoVR that was completed for XRobots YouTube channel, educational games for those with profound learning needs, to VR training simulators for the Royal Navy. The HoVR bike was hand built for game players to experience a game that sends you flying through an alien infested forest, fighting off enemies that chase you.

Professor Trevor Keeble, Dean of the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries, said: “Partnership with the creative industries is at the heart of our students’ experience at Portsmouth.”

Course leader, Ted Turnbull said: “It is a testament to students that when offered the opportunity to excel they have made full use of it. We’re extremely pleased with the interest shown by potential employers and look forward to witnessing our students perform well at the start of their career.”

Fashion and Textiles student Rose Dutton and winner of the Batsford Prize for Fashion 2019 brings together advanced laser-cutter technology with hand weaving in her sustainable fashion collection with surface print and embellishment. After the Portsmouth showcase, her work will be on display along with other students at Graduate Fashion Week in London, where University staff have created a VR environment where people can step inside the mind of the designers, unveiling the concept and mood of the students’ work.

Third-year undergraduate Architecture students Michael Brewster and Patrick Ciemierkiewicz are working with academics on The Media Hub and Fluid City Studio, where architecture will no longer define an object as a unique and recognisable item. It will be the environment that defines architecture, and students have worked on research focused projects representing utopian, and sometimes dystopian, visions concerning the future of architecture, and the world.

The students explain: “Architecture must consider new techniques of representation, smart technologies, and use of advanced digital tools in order for buildings to survive and adapt in accordance to potential future scenarios, in which environments are heavily affected by climate change. We need to rethink the urban fabric and its relationship with the troposphere in order to transform cities into virtuous open systems that can react to the changing environmental conditions.”

At the show, there will be opportunities to purchase student work and witness students entering the next stage of their careers. During the Show Preview on Friday 1 June, there will be exhibitions, film and animation screenings, and demonstrations of pioneering creative technologies. Everyone is welcome.

Graduate Show Week continues 4 to 8 June from 10am-4pm and is open to the public. Please check on the Graduate Show website for events taking place during the week http://degreeshows.cci.port.ac.uk/